The Tufts co-ed sailing team wrapped up its fall season at the Atlantic Coast Championships in Charleston, S.C. on Nov. 16 and 17. The Jumbos had worked all season to qualify for and compete in this two-day event, which featured 18 top-level teams from the East Coast in 14 races.
The No. 9 womens basketball team remained perfect this weekend, improving to 4-0 with a 67-43 victory over Brandeis on Saturday.
One day after dropping their first game of the season at Emerson, 78-71, the Jumbos appeared destined for back-to-back losses Saturday as they took on the Wentworth Leopards at Cousens Gym. Tufts fell behind big in the first half and again in the second, but an explosive offense showed up eventually to score 57 second-half points and win 84-73.
The No. 9 women's basketball team remained perfect this weekend, improving to 4-0 with a 67-43 victory over Brandeis on Saturday.
The womens fencing team kicked off its winter season at the Vassar Multi-Meet over the Nov. 10 weekend, finishing the tournament as the only undefeated team. Its eight wins came against Stevens Institute of Technology (16-11), Fairleigh Dickinson University (17-10), Queens College (23-4), City College of New York (17-10), West Point (19-8), Hunter College (23-4), Yeshiva University (24-3) and Cornell University (14-13).
The women's basketball team continued its hot start to the season, shutting down non-conference opponent Colby-Sawyer 74-33 in the team's home opener, improving to 3-0 and showing impressive versatility early in the year.
The women's fencing team kicked off its winter season at the Vassar Multi-Meet over the Nov. 10 weekend, finishing the tournament as the only undefeated team. Its eight wins came against Stevens Institute of Technology (16-11), Fairleigh Dickinson University (17-10), Queens College (23-4), City College of New York (17-10), West Point (19-8), Hunter College (23-4), Yeshiva University (24-3) and Cornell University (14-13).
The womens basketball team continued its hot start to the season, shutting down non-conference opponent Colby-Sawyer 74-33 in the teams home opener, improving to 3-0 and showing impressive versatility early in the year.
The mens squash team began its season with matches against Boston University, Stanford and Williams this past weekend. Tufts also played its home opener against Northeastern on Tuesday night, in which they lost 6-3.
The men's squash team began its season with matches against Boston University, Stanford and Williams this past weekend. Tufts also played its home opener against Northeastern on Tuesday night, in which they lost 6-3.
The mens hockey team returned to the ice this past week, hoping to ignore last years 2-14-2 conference record. Despite improving in all facets of the game and boasting a much deeper lineup, Tufts dropped its first two contests of the year to Wesleyan and Trinity, once again putting the team in an uphill battle in the NESCAC.Still, the Jumbos are optimistic that its 2013-14 season will be different than the previous one. Tufts lost its team leader in points from the 2012-13 season, Dylan Plimmer (LA 13), but the Jumbos returned all but three players and maintained the backbone of a team that struggled late in games. Co-captains senior Cody Armstrong and junior Blake Edwards step in as the teams leaders, and if the preseason was any indication, they have taken aim at some fundamental problems.Most of the change this preseason has been a culture change on top of the hard work, sophomore forward James Randaccio said. We built in some new preseason and summer workouts and revamped our preseason workouts to make sure everything was up to gear this year.At the forward position, the Jumbos are deep, mixing in freshmen with a solid core of veterans. Freshmen Matt Pugh and Conal Lynch play center for the first and second lines, respectively, a move that coach Brian Murphy hopes will spark some goal-scoring opportunities for a team that finished seventh in the NESCAC in scoring offense last year. Pugh is joined by sophomore Stewart Bell and junior Andrew White, the teams second and fourth top scorers from last years campaign, respectively, while Lynch is surrounded by a pair of veterans in junior Tyler Voigt and senior Kyle Gallegos.Through the first two games, however, the third line has been the strongest unit. Sophomores Luke Griffin and Keith Campbell have quickly developed chemistry with junior George Pantazopoulos, who is the teams leading goal-scorer after netting a goal in each of the first two games. The fourth line has also proven to be a perfect grind-it-out unit that combines hard-nosed play with a cohesive offensive approach. Randaccio and senior forward Tim Mitropoulous complement each other in size and style, while a rotating duo of freshmen Mike Leary and Patrick Lackey, two physical young forwards, will take turns on the wing.We have three great forward lines and a fourth line that really shows our depth, senior defenseman Brandon Fruchter said of his teammates. That is what makes us a really strong team this year.Fruchter is one of the Jumbos six defensemen who are looking to turn around last years unit, which allowed the most goals in the NESCAC. He is paired with sophomore Aidan Hartigan, and together they are perhaps the two most traditional defensemen on the team. The duo of junior Shawn Power and freshman Sean Kavanagh, two of the teams biggest skaters, gives the team much-needed size and physicality. The most impressive defensive pairing so far, however, has been junior Blake Edwards and sophomore Brian Ouellette, who have shown the chemistry and puck-handling prowess to be two of the best offensive defensemen in the NESCAC. While all six defensemen are as skilled as their counterparts throughout the conference, the success of the defense will depend on more than just individual players.Our top six has done really well in practice, Randaccio said. We have the tools; we just have to implement them.Fruchter also sees the need to rely on the guidance of Murphy over individual talent.We completely changed the way we run our penalty kill, Fruchter said. We are a lot more aggressive and will not let up any soft goals like we did last year.The game against Trinity on Saturday was supposed to be a bounce-back game, but it started off with another dose of bad luck for the Jumbos. Just eight seconds into the game, the Bantams took the lead, putting the puck past senior goaltender Brian Phillips, who had planned on splitting time with freshman Ryan Kellenberger. Phillips went down after a chaotic play in front of the net five minutes later and was removed from the game with an unspecified injury. As of press time, his condition and return date were unknown.12
The womens cross country team placed fourth at the NCAA Regional Championship meet on Saturday in Goreham, Maine, earning a bid for the National Championship for the first time since 2011.
The mens basketball team came away as tournament champions from its season-opening Chuck Resler Tournament, but more importantly, substantiated the towering expectations for a team fighting to solidify its core.
The men's basketball team came away as tournament champions from its season-opening Chuck Resler Tournament, but more importantly, substantiated the towering expectations for a team fighting to solidify its core.
The women's cross country team placed fourth at the NCAA Regional Championship meet on Saturday in Goreham, Maine, earning a bid for the National Championship for the first time since 2011.
The defending national champions and sixth-ranked field hockey team did not recapture the fairytale ending it had hoped for Saturday, falling to No. 3 Salisbury University 1-0 on a heart-wrenching final-minute goal. For the Jumbos, the loss marked the end of the season, and for four seniors, the end of their careers.Meanwhile, the host Seagulls advanced to the round of eight, which pitted them against Wellesley College on Sunday afternoon. Ironically, Salisbury moved on to play the same Wellesley team that the Jumbos defeated 1-0 on the road earlier in the season.The game was cagey from the beginning. In the opening minutes, the Jumbos and Seagulls traded possessions at midfield until Salisbury finally worked the ball into its offensive zone and began to pressure Tufts defenders.Junior netminder Bri Keenan was forced to make several close saves for the Jumbos, including a few over her head as Seagulls forwards tried to aerial the ball into the cage.By the end of the first half, Salisbury built a 12 to five advantage in shots and had also worked to earn five penalty corners.But shortly before halftime, Tufts offensive unit began to put the pieces together, eventually earning three penalty corners of its own.The Jumbos best chances to score came in that period of the game, as the Tufts offense fired five shots at junior Rachel Clewer in the last 10 minutes of the half. Senior All-American midfielder Emily Cannon and sophomore midfielder Dakota Sikes-Keilp each took aim on goal but could not find a hole in the Salisbury defense.Picking up where they left off, the Jumbos came out of the intermission full of fire. Tufts hustled to push the ball upfield, but still found no answer for Clewer and her defense. At the other end, the Seagulls trio of first-year forward Yumi Kim, junior forward Mallory Elliot and sophomore Courtney Jantzen kept Jumbo defenders Colleen Golja and Alexandra Jamison on their toes.The minutes continued to fly by and still no team managed to find the back of the boards. As the final 10 minutes closed out, it appeared that the Jumbos and Seagulls might be forced to settle the score in overtime, or even penalty strokes.With less than two minutes remaining, however, the Jumbos worked the ball into the 16-meter circle and earned a penalty corner. Cannon got a touch on the ball and attempted to slide it past Clewer, but the Seagulls defenders were there to block her path. As most of Tufts players pressed up, hoping to notch a quick goal and avoid overtime, Salisbury collected the ball and broke through Tufts ranks. In seconds, Jantzen brought the ball downfield and into the right wing before connecting with junior midfielder Summer Washburn on a cross.Jantzens pass slipped through the last lines of Tufts defense and into Washburns hands as she waited by the near post. The midfielder then beat Keenan, who had played cool under pressure all afternoon, but could do nothing to stop the quick one-on-one putaway.The Seagulls had pulled ahead with just 32 seconds remaining in the contest. With a half a minute left to play, the Jumbos already knew their fate was sealed, but nevertheless tried one more time to push the ball into the 16-meter circle. Instead, Cannons long-ball drifted out of bounds and time expired on Tufts season, as the desperation finally sunk in.Although the season didnt end how we wanted, I am extremely proud of the team and what we accomplished this year, co-captain Steph Wan said. This team was an incredibly talented group of girls who worked hard to improve every single day.For three of the teams seniors, co-captains Chelsea Yogerst and Wan, as well as midfielder Katy McConnell, the game marked the last time they would lace up to play collegiate field hockey. For Cannon, the end of her career comes this weekend, after she plays in the All-Star game located at the same Virginia Beach site that will host the final rounds of the NCAA tournament. The opportunity, although an honor, is bittersweet.We played so hard against Salisbury and I couldnt have asked for a more awesome or harder working team to spend my last season with, Cannon said. These last four years have been unforgettable; going to NCAAs three times, winning the national championship last year and being able to come back as defending champions was incredible.Despite being eliminated by a goal that came with just 30 seconds left, the four seniors are proud of their season and of their careers with the program. There were plenty of positive takeaways Yogerst became the school recordholder in single game scoring, the Jumbos defeated archrival Bowdoin in front of a home crowd and they once again advanced to the national stage for the postseason.As a senior I am so proud of what we have accomplished in the last four years with the program, Wan said. Making the NCAA tournament three times has been an incredible experience. I wish my teammates the best of luck for next season, and were excited to see what Tufts field hockey is going to do in the upcoming years.12
The No. 11 men's cross country team traveled back to the University of Southern Maine, the site of its first invitational of the season, to compete for a spot in the national championships at the NCAA Div. III New England Regional Championship.
The No. 11 mens cross country team traveled back to the University of Southern Maine, the site of its first invitational of the season, to compete for a spot in the national championships at the NCAA Div. III New England Regional Championship.
The No. 6 field hockey team did not waste its opportunity on Wednesday after being granted a second life with NCAA tournament selections last weekend. The Jumbos duked it out with visiting the Anna Maria College Cats in sub-freezing temperatures to capture a 5-0 victory and advance to the second round of NCAA play this weekend.
The mens soccer team saw its season come to a devastating end last weekend in penalty kicks in the NESCAC Quarterfinals against Bowdoin. The loss brought an end to an up-and-down year that never saw the team reach its full potential.
